Thanks for watching! Some things you should know: Holmes Basic was first published in 1977. My edition is the 3rd print and produced in 1979. Also, Swords & Spells is often referred to as "Supplement V" but never received an official designation by TSR. Supplement IV calls itself "the last D&D supplement" in its introduction. Swords & Spells is more of a reworking of Chainmail. For these reasons I did not mention it in this video. When I get around to doing a video on the D&D White Box set I will include it.
Yeah, I own a copy of Swords & Spells that I got sort of just because I am a bit of a completist, but it is entirely unnecessary, of course. Maybe you should also mention that some things were also added from the Strategic Review. The Ranger class was added in issue #2 of that... my favorite class. ;-) The Dragon magazine also added new goodies that eventually made it into some final rule books.
A little interesting trivia if you actually have the multi-colored polyhedral dice (brand new still bagged) from the Holmes' Boxed set they are worth a very significant chunk of money, like around $500 (brand new, bagged). These are the old cheap multicolored dice, orange, light blue, green, yellow, .. the older fill in the numbers dice are worth far, far less. Even an old beat-up set of these multi-colored dice can easily fetch more than $100. That's why you almost never see the original polyhedral dice come with an old OD&D boxed set or Blueholme Basic D&D box. Any seller who knows what they are doing (and most do) -- you sell the dice and the boxed set separately. Dice missing is so common is doesn't lower the price of a boxed set (people don't expect the dice to come with the bosed set). So very, very rare to see a boxed set with a full set of those cheaply made multi-colored polyhedral dice. Thought this was interesting -- as I was floored when I learned that these dice were worth anything. I think they are worth so much because they are super rare because people just lost them or threw them away. Yeah -- who knew...
@@welovettrpgs I just did! Enjoyed that video as well! and wrote a comment in that video. Mainly my find of a complete still bagged set of the multicolored polyhedral dice from my Gamma World 1e box from 1978. And I had almost thrown my beat-up set (from my early Holmes Basic box) away at some point. Yeah -- and those dice were such poor quality. Don't know if you have seen it but there is a really good dice History video done by the TTRPG historian, Jon Peterson -- and he talks about those cheap multicolored dice. Apparently, the OD&D version of these dice have a "pinkish" d6 die -- while the version of the die sets from early versions of the Holmes Basic D&D box and early versions of the Gamma World 1e box have d6 dice that are a light orange. I'm not an expert with this stuff -- but I believe sets with the pink d6 are, of course, more valuable than sets with the orange d6. Both of my sets have the orange d6. I also think if you bought a real late printing of OD&D, i.e. 1979 that they didn't come with this set (but not sure about this). According to the excellent TTRPG collector's site, The Acaeum, around late 1978 or early 1979 is when they stopped using the multi-colored polyhedral dice in their sets. The "chits" thing happened briefly in 1979 and maybe into 1980 when they briefly couldn't source dice.
Spot on! My friends and I cut our teeth on the Holmes edition, which came with Keep on the Borderlands and a crude, multi-colored five-piece set of dice. I remember having to paint half of the d20, as there were two each of 0 through 9 on each facet. We quickly made the jump to AD&D once the hardback books started coming out, but the Holmes Basic is how I remember those first glorious months.
Amazing video and I welcome your personal reflections mixed with amazing historical context - thank you. I'm gratified I got my Mentzer Red Box Basic Set for Christmas in 1984 as I had been introduced to it via my small high school circle of friends - have had an on again off again relationship with 'D&D' since then.
I've been wondering where the videos for this edition were. We used this until the DM Guide, Monster Manual and Players Handbook came out. Good times ❤
Same! That's awesome! I still have no idea how my little 10 year old brain even figured it out because it's so confusing to me now after decades of other systems.
Great history lesson! I was unaware of the early Holmes additions. I started in '89 with AD$D 2nd addition. We still play to this day. We tried 3rd and 3.5, but it wasn't as enjoyable. 🖖😁🤘🇨🇦
Thanks for making this video it's always great to have more videos introducing older editions. I also appreciate that you went into detail about mechanics. I would like to humbly request another video like this but on my favorite edition Moldvay Basic/Expert.
Thanks! I have a long list of video topics and I'll certainly cover all that history. Atm I'm working on Lore videos for witches / Iggwilv / etc (mostly because they do really well for the channel) and with October coming I'll be covering undead etc. But I will get to all the older books, adventures etc. Thanks again!
@@welovettrpgs I am subscribed so I look forward to seeing them all and it was not a rush just when you get the chance I would appreciate it. Also I wrote my comment before finishing the video and I just got to the part where you talk about characters going from weak to strong and complaining that newer versions miss this point and I have to say I agree fully and respect that you said it...kids these days!
I started with the same Holmes Basic boxed set, which I still have. Mine was the chit version. I cut them out and put them into little plastic baggies. Ah, good times :-)
Wow! That's cool! I dont know that I've ever even seen the chits, only heard about them. (also, I'm pretty sure there are people on ebay 3d printing dice and trying to sell them as "vintage."
@@welovettrpgs I kept the baggies of chits for years just as a novelty thing, but eventually threw them away 😕 Ah well. Hindsight and all that. ...just like all the old RPG stuff that I purged for various moves just cuz I knew I would never actually play those games ever again.
@@mikeb.1705 I'm really angry with myself for selling (cheaply to a second hand store) all my James Bond RPG books (had them all) and West End Games Star Wars Books (again, had them all.) Sold both piles of books about ten years ago due to moving. Really kicking myself now.
@@welovettrpgs I hear ya! At least you sold yours. All my 80's RPG stuff went to Good Will about 20 years ago >.< Top Secret, Star Frontiers, BEXMI boxes, various 1E & 2E modules, and probably a ton of stuff I forgot about. And don't get me started on the MTG sets I sold off 20 years ago. HA ha... ouch... oh man, that stings...
@@welovettrpgs Yep. I hear you. My story is -- I once had someone (in the 80s) offer me $100 for all my old D&D/RPG stuff. A TON of old stuff. Thank fully I said heck no. 🙂 Later in the early 90s - I bought a long box worth of D&D 2nd Edition stuff for $100. Thought it was a pretty good deal at the time -- turned out it was an INCREDIBLE deal long term.
Excellent video. I didn't start with the version; I started with the Moldvay version of the game in 1981. I do own two copies of the Holmes Basic boxed set, though. One has the inked dice and one has the chits with the little coupon to send in $1.50 to get a set of dice at a later time. heh The one set has a monochrome B1 and the other has a copy of B2. I don't have the one with the Dungeon Geomorphs, although I do own a copy of the Geomorphs that I got separately. Oh... and I also own a UK version of the Holmes rule book, which is the same thing, but has completely different cover art. It's a cool novelty to own. :-)
Old Person D&D? OLD PERSON D&D?!?!.........God Dammit...........😅 On Psionics: I'm one of those few people who loved Psionics, with my favorite monster being the Mind Flayer and all. But Yes, it was WAY overpowered in the original edition, and even in 3rd edition where it was 'perfected', still had some problems, but worked much better. My first set was the one that contained the 'Keep on the Borderlands', and those crappy 'fill in' dice that chipped after a few rolls 😏 Unfortunately, thanks to a certain televangelist that just recently shuffled off this mortal coil, I had to burn my original set due to the 'Satanic Panic' of the time. When I went off to college years later, I bought fully into Advanced D&D, though 😁
The Holmes and Moldvay basic rule sets are honestly great to use when running the game with kids (and adults) such a simplistic and great rule set. Just sucks it’s formatting makes literaly no sense
For all those new gamers, mind your manners. It might be old; and it might be 'slender', it is the foundation upon all other games are build upon. In my opinion, anyway.
Thanks for watching! Some things you should know: Holmes Basic was first published in 1977. My edition is the 3rd print and produced in 1979. Also, Swords & Spells is often referred to as "Supplement V" but never received an official designation by TSR. Supplement IV calls itself "the last D&D supplement" in its introduction. Swords & Spells is more of a reworking of Chainmail. For these reasons I did not mention it in this video. When I get around to doing a video on the D&D White Box set I will include it.
Yeah, I own a copy of Swords & Spells that I got sort of just because I am a bit of a completist, but it is entirely unnecessary, of course. Maybe you should also mention that some things were also added from the Strategic Review. The Ranger class was added in issue #2 of that... my favorite class. ;-) The Dragon magazine also added new goodies that eventually made it into some final rule books.
That is the exact book I learned to play D&D with too.
Me too! I still have mine. ❤️
A little interesting trivia if you actually have the multi-colored polyhedral dice (brand new still bagged) from the Holmes' Boxed set they are worth a very significant chunk of money, like around $500 (brand new, bagged). These are the old cheap multicolored dice, orange, light blue, green, yellow, .. the older fill in the numbers dice are worth far, far less. Even an old beat-up set of these multi-colored dice can easily fetch more than $100. That's why you almost never see the original polyhedral dice come with an old OD&D boxed set or Blueholme Basic D&D box. Any seller who knows what they are doing (and most do) -- you sell the dice and the boxed set separately. Dice missing is so common is doesn't lower the price of a boxed set (people don't expect the dice to come with the bosed set). So very, very rare to see a boxed set with a full set of those cheaply made multi-colored polyhedral dice.
Thought this was interesting -- as I was floored when I learned that these dice were worth anything. I think they are worth so much because they are super rare because people just lost them or threw them away. Yeah -- who knew...
Oh check out my video about dice Porn! I talk about that!
@@welovettrpgs I just did! Enjoyed that video as well! and wrote a comment in that video. Mainly my find of a complete still bagged set of the multicolored polyhedral dice from my Gamma World 1e box from 1978. And I had almost thrown my beat-up set (from my early Holmes Basic box) away at some point. Yeah -- and those dice were such poor quality.
Don't know if you have seen it but there is a really good dice History video done by the TTRPG historian, Jon Peterson -- and he talks about those cheap multicolored dice. Apparently, the OD&D version of these dice have a "pinkish" d6 die -- while the version of the die sets from early versions of the Holmes Basic D&D box and early versions of the Gamma World 1e box have d6 dice that are a light orange. I'm not an expert with this stuff -- but I believe sets with the pink d6 are, of course, more valuable than sets with the orange d6. Both of my sets have the orange d6. I also think if you bought a real late printing of OD&D, i.e. 1979 that they didn't come with this set (but not sure about this). According to the excellent TTRPG collector's site, The Acaeum, around late 1978 or early 1979 is when they stopped using the multi-colored polyhedral dice in their sets. The "chits" thing happened briefly in 1979 and maybe into 1980 when they briefly couldn't source dice.
Spot on! My friends and I cut our teeth on the Holmes edition, which came with Keep on the Borderlands and a crude, multi-colored five-piece set of dice. I remember having to paint half of the d20, as there were two each of 0 through 9 on each facet. We quickly made the jump to AD&D once the hardback books started coming out, but the Holmes Basic is how I remember those first glorious months.
Amazing video and I welcome your personal reflections mixed with amazing historical context - thank you. I'm gratified I got my Mentzer Red Box Basic Set for Christmas in 1984 as I had been introduced to it via my small high school circle of friends - have had an on again off again relationship with 'D&D' since then.
Thank you Mark!
Very nostalgic for me, as I was introduced to the game on the Holmes version also.
Thank you!!
Nice history lesson.
I didn’t get into D&D until 1987 in the Marines with 1AD&D
Thanks! And thanks for your service. I grew up near Fort Lewis and McCord. All military family and friends.
I got the ones with the chits.
Nice!!
I've been wondering where the videos for this edition were. We used this until the DM Guide, Monster Manual and Players Handbook came out. Good times ❤
Same! That's awesome! I still have no idea how my little 10 year old brain even figured it out because it's so confusing to me now after decades of other systems.
Ha! I got this for Christmas!!
Woo,thanks for a such detail video for explaining Holmes basic dnd, and also compare it with nowadays one , the 5e edition.😊🎉❤
thanks. i have no idea how 10 year old me ever figured the rules out.
TOM MOLDWAY 'S SPANINSH INQUISITION .
Great history lesson! I was unaware of the early Holmes additions. I started in '89 with AD$D 2nd addition. We still play to this day. We tried 3rd and 3.5, but it wasn't as enjoyable. 🖖😁🤘🇨🇦
it's confusing as heck and I look back amazed I was ever able to figure it out at that age.
Thanks for making this video it's always great to have more videos introducing older editions. I also appreciate that you went into detail about mechanics.
I would like to humbly request another video like this but on my favorite edition Moldvay Basic/Expert.
Thanks! I have a long list of video topics and I'll certainly cover all that history. Atm I'm working on Lore videos for witches / Iggwilv / etc (mostly because they do really well for the channel) and with October coming I'll be covering undead etc. But I will get to all the older books, adventures etc. Thanks again!
@@welovettrpgs I am subscribed so I look forward to seeing them all and it was not a rush just when you get the chance I would appreciate it. Also I wrote my comment before finishing the video and I just got to the part where you talk about characters going from weak to strong and complaining that newer versions miss this point and I have to say I agree fully and respect that you said it...kids these days!
@@BX-advocate Thanks!
I started with the same Holmes Basic boxed set, which I still have. Mine was the chit version. I cut them out and put them into little plastic baggies. Ah, good times :-)
Wow! That's cool! I dont know that I've ever even seen the chits, only heard about them. (also, I'm pretty sure there are people on ebay 3d printing dice and trying to sell them as "vintage."
@@welovettrpgs I kept the baggies of chits for years just as a novelty thing, but eventually threw them away 😕
Ah well. Hindsight and all that.
...just like all the old RPG stuff that I purged for various moves just cuz I knew I would never actually play those games ever again.
@@mikeb.1705 I'm really angry with myself for selling (cheaply to a second hand store) all my James Bond RPG books (had them all) and West End Games Star Wars Books (again, had them all.) Sold both piles of books about ten years ago due to moving. Really kicking myself now.
@@welovettrpgs I hear ya! At least you sold yours. All my 80's RPG stuff went to Good Will about 20 years ago >.<
Top Secret, Star Frontiers, BEXMI boxes, various 1E & 2E modules, and probably a ton of stuff I forgot about.
And don't get me started on the MTG sets I sold off 20 years ago. HA ha... ouch... oh man, that stings...
@@welovettrpgs Yep. I hear you. My story is -- I once had someone (in the 80s) offer me $100 for all my old D&D/RPG stuff. A TON of old stuff. Thank fully I said heck no. 🙂 Later in the early 90s - I bought a long box worth of D&D 2nd Edition stuff for $100. Thought it was a pretty good deal at the time -- turned out it was an INCREDIBLE deal long term.
Excellent video. I didn't start with the version; I started with the Moldvay version of the game in 1981. I do own two copies of the Holmes Basic boxed set, though. One has the inked dice and one has the chits with the little coupon to send in $1.50 to get a set of dice at a later time. heh The one set has a monochrome B1 and the other has a copy of B2. I don't have the one with the Dungeon Geomorphs, although I do own a copy of the Geomorphs that I got separately. Oh... and I also own a UK version of the Holmes rule book, which is the same thing, but has completely different cover art. It's a cool novelty to own. :-)
Great info, thanks!
Classy D&D.
My mom got me the Holmes box set from a garage sale. It had all the chits, no dice. We were pissed
I can imagine! That was pretty lame!
Old Person D&D?
OLD PERSON D&D?!?!.........God Dammit...........😅
On Psionics: I'm one of those few people who loved Psionics, with my favorite monster being the Mind Flayer and all.
But Yes, it was WAY overpowered in the original edition, and even in 3rd edition where it was 'perfected', still had some problems, but worked much better.
My first set was the one that contained the 'Keep on the Borderlands', and those crappy 'fill in' dice that chipped after a few rolls 😏
Unfortunately, thanks to a certain televangelist that just recently shuffled off this mortal coil, I had to burn my original set due to the 'Satanic Panic' of the time. When I went off to college years later, I bought fully into Advanced D&D, though 😁
George Carlin quote, " I used to say I'm getting older ... fuck it I'm old."
we love TPK.'S .Druids.
Still the best edition
Did you ever get the Blueholme book?
Yes it's really good (If you like Holmes Basic) I like it because memories.
The Holmes and Moldvay basic rule sets are honestly great to use when running the game with kids (and adults) such a simplistic and great rule set. Just sucks it’s formatting makes literaly no sense
Yeah the formatting still leaves me confused about how I was able to figure that out in 1980.
For all those new gamers, mind your manners. It might be old; and it might be 'slender', it is the foundation upon all other games are build upon. In my opinion, anyway.
To me it's just "the blue book."
Yes! It was for me too until I made this video.
I'm still in disbelief this has nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes and high-society murder mystery evening games.
haha honestly, that kept coming up in google searches as I worked on that video
Ya, when I saw the name Holmes I was thinking Sherlock as well 🤣